A new bill introduced in the California state legislature would ban drug companies from offering consumers coupons for drugs that have a lower cost alternative, prompting concerns from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA). The author of the bill told Inside Health Policy that he hopes the measure will highlight what he sees as the inappropriate pricing practices and bring drug makers to the table. One other state, Massachusetts, previously banned coupons, and CLSA argues the move did little to increase generic utilization in the state — but recently published research found that copay coupons do have a significant effect nationally.